Container problem at Tanjung Priok easing

JAKARTA (JP): Container clearance from Tanjung Priok port has significantly improved since the free-of-charge container waiting time was reduced at the port, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said yesterday.

After reporting to President Soeharto, Haryanto said 60 percent of containers were now being removed from the port on the fourth day after unloading from ships. This was an improvement over the 11.61 percent clearance rate before the government announced the cut last month.

"This is evidence, no one can deny it," Haryanto said.

He said that more and more importers would clear their consignments on the fourth day to avoid being charged by state- owned port authority PT Pelindo II.

Ministerial decree No. 17, 1997, effective from Aug. 1, stipulates that stockpiling fees for loaded and empty containers will be imposed from the fourth day after unloading from ships.

The ruling applies to containers with a "full container load" (FCL) status.

The ruling stipulates that after its third day at the container yard an FCL container will be removed to a depot outside the port area. Importers must pay Rp 550,000 a container for this.

Haryanto said the number of containers removed from Tanjung Priok's terminal one to depots outside the port had decreased from 421 containers a day before the announcement of the decree, to 292 containers a day now.

And containers removed from terminal two to private depots had also decreased from 122 containers a day to 80 containers a day.

Chairman of the Indonesian Importers Association Amirudin Saud said that when the ministerial decree comes into effect on Aug. 1, importers, especially the small ones, would opt to use containers with the status "less container load" (LCL).

He said that by using LCL containers, importers would then have 10 days to stockpile their cargo free of charge at the port's container yard.

And importers using LCL containers will only have to pay stockpiling fees at the port's conventional warehouses at Rp 200 (8 U.S. cents) a ton or Rp 300 a cubic meter, depending on the type of goods. (rid)